Mexico, Slavery, Freedom

"Through its rich and fascinating collection of documents, Mexico, Slavery, Freedom offers a much-needed window into Mexico's long history of slavery that will leave readers wanting to learn and discover more. Sierra Silva brilliantly guides his readers through the maze of Mexican archival resources. Through his careful content curation, readers will discover how corruption and discrimination led to persistent enslavement of indigenous Mesoamerican and transpacific peoples despite royal orders to abolish the practice. The rich, detailed-packed introductions-to the book in general and to each chapter-are nonetheless succinct and to the point. Sierra Silva's. editorial approach proves that information and interpretative points are better served in small portions. The documents themselves are the main course. Sierra Silva also recognizes the importance of giving readers both English and Spanish versions of each document in the book. These bilingual transcriptions make Mexico, Slavery, Freedom an equally valuable resource for course instruction in predominantly English-speaking environments, bilingual classrooms, and Spanish-centered courses. " -Mariana Dantas, Ohio University This is the first volume to provide, in dual-language format, selections from primary texts related to the experiences of enslaved Africans, Asians, and their descendants in colonial Mexico.